a) What are the expectations for the outcome of Rio+20, and what are the concrete proposals in this regard, including views on a possible structure of the Outcome document?

THE DRYLANDS TOWARDS RIO+20: A GLOBAL CHALLENGE
More than 2,300 scientists and policymakers from 80 countries and all continents,
including public officials, natural and social scientists, representatives of the private
sector and international agencies, and members of non-governmental and other civilsociety
organizations, met in Fortaleza ? Brazil (ICID+18, 2010), Mendoza ? Argentina
(ICID+19, 2011) and in Niamey ? Niger (ICID+19 Africa, 2011), during the International
Conference on Climate, Sustainability and Development in Semi-arid Regions (ICID).
They exchanged information and lessons of the past two decades about sustainable
development in Drylands around the globe and offered policy recommendations for
consideration at the Rio+20 Summit in 2012.
Since the first ICID was held in 1992, human-induced global warming and
environmental changes and their consequences for human and ecosystems well-being
are now widely accepted as fundamental development issues.
The purpose the set of ICID Conferences was to assess the situation of Drylands
regions (arid, semi-arid and dry subhumid lands) in order to foster sustainable
development and the fight against poverty, land degradation and desertification in the
Drylands. From this analysis, participants have reached conclusions and adopted
action oriented recommendations addressed in particular to the Rio + 20 Summit in
2012. The participants in the ICID conferences suggest that the agenda of the Rio + 20
could devote a special chapter to the discussion of the challenges and potentialities of
the Drylands, given their importance in terms of population, poverty, development gap,
and environmental assets.
EXPECTATIONS

The Drylands worldwide contain the largest concentrations of poverty and suffer the
greatest pressures on their natural resources such as water, soils, and biodiversity.
Their populations are extremely vulnerable to the adverse consequences of
environmental changes related to climate variability and change, and are among the
least able to cope effectively with them. Desertification alone, as a symbol of
environmental threats in the Drylands, adversely affects the livelihoods of one billion
(1,000,000,000) people.
Although significant advances continue to be made in scientific knowledge and public
understanding concerning the interactions among climate, environmental sustainability
and socio-economic development and despite progress and the best of government
intentions, the challenges continue to increase and constrain efforts to effectively
reduce poverty, mitigate and adapt to climate change and achieve sustainable
development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Past errors, poorly conceived policies, and exploitative practices have resulted in
environmental and social conditions that are not easily reversed without substantial and
sustained development efforts that require increased national and international
financial support. Declining productivity in the Drylands of their natural resources, the
prevalence of poverty and significant inequities as well as institutional weaknesses are
expected to be worsened by climate variability and change.
The world?s Drylands possess many important assets, including rich social, cultural and
biological diversity. They are responsible for more than 20% of food production around
the globe.
The sustainable development of Drylands, through improved governance, enhanced
livelihoods and greater voice, empowerment, and political representation of their
populations (especially the poor), should be the foremost objective of local to
international action.
Climate-sensitive development interventions from local to global must be substantially
increased paying special attention to the needs of women, children and the elderly,
throughout the Drylands.
?Win-Win? opportunities to cope with global warming must be identified and pursued,
especially climate adaptation tactics and strategies that reduce local vulnerability,
increase resilience and build assets of the poor. Efforts are needed to develop greater
institutional capacity for managing climate variability today in the context of projected
climate changes (e.g., greater emphasis on improved climate and environmental
monitoring networks, drought preparedness planning based on a risk-based
management approach, development of appropriate decision-support tools, and
improved information delivery systems to aid decision making). Efforts must promote
access to land and to markets, as well as effective civil-society grassroots participation
in decision-making, implementation, and evaluation of development activities.
The sustainable development of the drylands and the combat to land degradation and
desertification should be fostered, through the incorporation of the environmental,
social and economic dimensions in development planning and implementation.
The United Nations should urgently consider the current plight of the Drylands,
including the risks to global security associated with the growing impoverishment and
food insecurity, increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and climate change, and
rising conflicts and violence in Drylands regions.
Previous financial pledges by industrialized countries to support sustainable
development efforts must be met. Existing institutional arrangements and financial
instruments must not only be strengthened but must become more efficient.
Disbursement of concessionary resources from recently established Climate
Investment and Adaptation Funds, for example, should be accelerated, and local and
national institutional absorptive capacities strengthened to effectively utilize these
resources.
Regular exchange including scientists, decision and policymakers dealing with the
drylands should be encouraged.
Short, medium and long term strategies are necessary to better monitor
implementation of actions against land degradation and desertification. In this regard, a
zero net land degradation target should be set.
Beyond Rio + 20, the MDGs that will be defined for the period following 2015 should
pay special attention to the Drylands and consider them as a target with a high-level of
priority.
b) What are the comments, if any, on existing proposals: e.g., a green economy roadmap, framework for action, sustainable development goals, a revitalized global partnership for sustainable development, or others?

COMMMENTS
Mechanisms should be strengthened through integrated action to arrest and avoid land
degradation, to mitigate the effects of droughts, fires and floods, to conserve soil and
water resources and biodiversity, and to resiliently adapt to climate change and its
consequences. In addition, mechanisms to financially compensate local communities
for the environmental protection services they provide must be identified and
implemented. Multilateral and bilateral development agencies can play an important
role.
Investment opportunities should exploit the comparative advantages of drylands areas
such as solar power generation, as well as other alternative and renewable energy
sources (including hydropower, wind, and biomass). They should also support
techniques for rainwater capture, improved sanitation, wastewater reuse in irrigation
and low carbon, resource saving and environmentally-friendly activities. Such
investment would enhance energy and food security by the improved efficient
management of demand for water through adequate pricing and other means. The
integration of water basins should also be considered
There is also the need to recover degraded areas, strengthen the management and
sustainability of existing and newly protected areas and to prevent environmental
deterioration of those that are as yet well preserved. Drylands regions should catalogue
and prioritize the various sustainable uses and conservation of biodiversity.
Synergies among global, national, regional and local interventions to mitigate and
adapt to climate change, conserve biodiversity, and curb desertification should be
maximized. Interactions among and with the three Rio Conventions (UNCCD, UNCBD,
UNFCCC) should be integrated with broader domestic and international efforts to foster
quality of basic education, combat poverty and promote sustainability.
Enhancing climate-sensitive sustainable development activities will require additional
financial resources. Part of these costs should be absorbed by national economies,
but, because of the global public goods nature of these issues, a larger share of the
needed incremental financing should come from industrialized countries.
Contextualized quality education at all levels should be a priority, cooperatively
supported by all agencies involved. In addition to a high-return investment in human
capital, this should be viewed as the need to raise the awareness of local populations
about the linkages among climate change, poverty and sustainability. This will ensure
an effective voice, empowerment and representation in public decision-making
regarding the future of Drylands regions. Specific Drylands education policies should
be developed. The priority focus should be on the youth of both genders beginning with
early childhood development. They have the most at stake and will become the next
wave of policy and decision makers.
The path to sustainable development requires a greening of the economy of the
drylands, as is the case in other regions. The green economy approach should fully
incorporate needs for sustainable land management and not be used as trade barriers
against exports coming from developing countries.
Renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass) should be enhanced in the Drylands.
Developing countries are encouraged to take advantage of financial opportunities
offered by existing or emerging mechanisms such as the ones derived from the Rio
Conventions process (carbon market, GEF enabling funds, etc.). Likewise, activities on
agroforestry and water resources, including underground aquifers, should be fostered
in the context of cooperation for development policies.
c) What are the views on implementation and on how to close the implementation gap, which relevant actors are envisaged as being involved (Governments, specific Major Groups, UN system, IFIs, etc.);

IMPLEMENTATION
The concerns of Drylands peoples are often poorly represented in international,
national and local policy processes. Good governance of the Drylands will also bring
knowledge, cultural values, needs and aspirations of local inhabitants into multi-level
policy and decision-making.
An integrated multidisciplinary climate research, observation, modeling and
applications program should be implemented to inform resource managers, policy
makers, planners, educators and local populations about adaptation to the
consequences of a changing climate.
While information technology and knowledge based on the complex causes and effects
of climate variability, extremes and change have advanced significantly during the past
two decades, significantly greater inputs from the social sciences are needed,
especially to focus on the social and political causes of vulnerability and resilience as
well as the societal impacts of climate variability and climate change.
The gap caused by a mismatch between scientific and technological investigation
related to the Drylands along with knowledge about production systems on the one
hand, and the prevailing system of decision-making and environmental and local
governance, on the other, should be eliminated. New Science and Technology (S&T)
knowledge must be developed in existing and new Drylands institutions. Sustainable
development efforts must respect the cultures of indigenous, traditional and other local
populations that have inhabited these regions for centuries.
Drylands knowledge networks should be enhanced with two basic objectives: (i)
scientific and applied research: exchange of information, discussion of methodologies,
communication of scientific discoveries and joint development of research activities;
and (ii) participatory planning and action: create a forum for exchanging experiences
among specialists, government authorities and civil society.
Governance of sustainable development in the drylands should be strengthened at
different levels, by enforcing the implementation of the multilateral environmental
agreements (MEA) and supporting national and local policies, inter alia through: i)
taking into account traditional knowledge, cultural values, needs and aspirations of
local inhabitants; ii) reinforcement of regional cooperation between States directly or by
means of dedicated organizations such as APGMV and river basin organizations; iii)
use of different policy means, including the empowering of local populations and
facilitating their access to land. These measures must be consistent with cultural
values and customary laws as appropriate.
International cooperation should be encouraged since better coordination of
development programs improves their efficiency. South-south cooperation and tripartite
(South, North, South) cooperation should be especially fostered. South?South
cooperation, notably when it implies developing and emerging countries, like Brazil, is
powerful because some emerging countries have already experimented with success
policies to fight poverty, land degradation and desertification. Tripartite cooperation,
which involves developing, emerging and developed countries, should also be
encouraged. International donors and lenders ? States, Financial Institutions,
foundations, corporate philanthropists ? should pay special attention to the needs
expressed by organizations directly involved in the combat against desertification,
bearing in mind the principles of the Paris Declaration.
d) What specific cooperation mechanisms, partnership arrangements or other implementation tools are envisaged and what is the relevant time frame for the proposed decisions to be reached and actions to be implemented?

TOOLS
Convene a ?Drylands Summit on Sustainable Development? to refine policy options for
Drylands worldwide. Inputs from ICID+19, Niamey 2011, and those of the proposed
Drylands Summit would enhance discussion of the importance of Drylands issues in
the Rio+20 Conference agenda. Summits for other eco-regions should also be
identified and convened.
A new strategic geo-political Drylands Initiative, if not alliance, can be developed to
coordinate efforts to address common climate, development and sustainability related
problems, prospects and opportunities.
Generate support for development and implementation of community-level knowledgebased
strategies to educate children, adults, policy and decision makers, including
parliamentarians, and the media, about the obvious as well as hidden implications of
climate and environmental changes In the Drylands.
Efforts to improve scientific cooperation devoted to the drylands should be promoted at
all levels.
This could be reached by the development of Science, Technology & Innovation (STI)
initiatives located in Drylands countries, by enhancing regional and continental centers
of excellence on topics concerning drought and desertification.
This could also be reached in Drylands regions through the activities of existing and
new networks and observatories devoted to integrated approaches on climate change,
land degradation and desertification, migration, health, sustainable development
experiences, e.g.
Exchange and share of information and data related to the drylands should be
facilitated among scientists and should be used by policy makers.
We should encourage interdisciplinary research programs (inputs from social sciences
are particularly needed). Indeed they are well tailored to take into account all the
impacts ? social, economic and environmental ? of measures and policies fighting
desertification and promoting sustainable development in drylands.
Research activities should provide local expertise about drylands management.
Research activities should contribute to training and capacity building in the drylands
regions.
Moreover, scientific knowledge and dissemination towards the private sector and civil
society ? mainly throughout the educational system ? should be improved. Information,
models and policies related to drought and desertification should be enhanced.
Research activities should lead to usual outputs - such as scientific publications - but
also to specific outputs that could be used directly by policy makers and other
stakeholders.
Efforts should be done in order to assess the state of the art about research devoted to
the drylands, including with the use of impact indicators.
The links between research and innovation should be strengthened as well as publicprivate
partnership. The development of biotechnologies and ecological intensification
using the diversity of local biological resources should be promoted.

Specific Elements

a) Objective of the Conference: To secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assessing the progress to date and remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development and addressing new and emerging challenges.

Contributions could include possible sectoral priorities (e.g., (e.g., energy, food security and sustainable agriculture, technology transfer, water, oceans, sustainable urbanization, sustainable consumption and production, natural disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation, biodiversity, etc.) and sectoral initiatives that contribute to integrate the three pillars of sustainable development could be launched and endorsed at Rio+20.

Download the original document to see the full submission
b) Green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication: views regarding how green economy can be a means to achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions, and poverty eradication; what is its potential added value; experience to date, including what has worked and how to build upon success, what are the challenges and opportunities and how to address the challenges and seize opportunities, and possible elements of an agreement in outcome document on a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication

Download the original document to see the full submission
c) Institutional framework for sustainable development: Priorities and proposals for strengthening individual pillars of sustainable development, as well as those for strengthening integration of the three pillars, at multiple levels; local, national, regional and international.

Download the original document to see the full submission
d) Any proposals for refinement of the two themes. Recall that Resolution 64/236 describes the focus of the Conference: "The focus of the Conference will include the following themes to be discussed and refined during the preparatory process: a green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication and the institutional framework for sustainable development".

Second International Conference on Climate, Sustainability and
Development in Semi-arid Regions (ICID 2010)

Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil

16 - 20 August, 2010

A DRYLANDS CALL FOR ACTION

The Drylands worldwide contain the largest concentrations of poverty and
suffer the greatest pressures on their natural resources such as water,
soils, and biodiversity. Their populations are extremely vulnerable to the
adverse consequences of environmental changes related to climate variability
and change, and are among the least able to cope effectively with them.
Desertification alone, as a symbol of environmental threats in the Drylands,
adversely affects the lively hoods of one billion (1,000,000,000!) people.

A gathering of 2,350 participants from 80 countries, including public officials,
natural and social scientists, representatives of the private sector and
international agencies, and members of non-governmental and other civil-
society organizations, met in Fortaleza, state of Ceará, Brazil, from August 16th
to 20th, 2010, in the Second International Conference on Climate,
Sustainability and Development in Semi-arid Regions (ICID 2010). They
exchanged information and lessons of the past two decades about sustainable
development in Drylands around the globe and offered policy recommendations
for consideration at the Rio+20 summit in 2012.

Since the first ICID was held in 1992, human-induced global warming and
environmental changes and their consequences for human and
ecosystems well-being are now widely accepted as fundamental
development issues. Although significant advances continue to be made in
scientific knowledge and public understanding concerning the interactions
among climate, environmental sustainability and socio-economic development
and despite progress and the best of government intentions, the challenges
continue to increase and constrain efforts to effectively reduce poverty, mitigate
and adapt to climate change and achieve sustainable development and the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Political resolve, sustained commitment to action and to provide
additional resources are urgently needed to realize these objectives.
These challenges are critical but surmountable in 1 the underrepresented arid,
semi-arid and dry sub-humid regions, collectively called ?Drylands?.

Past errors, poorly conceived policies, and exploitative practices have
resulted in environmental and social conditions that are not easily
reversed without substantial and sustained development efforts that
require increased national and international financial support. Declining
productivity in the Drylands of their natural resources, the prevalence of poverty
and significant inequities as well as institutional weaknesses are expected to be
worsened by climate variability and change.

Drylands regions contribute much less to global climate change (ie, as
sources of greenhouse gas emissions) than other biomes, but are likely to be
much more adversely affected by it.

Extreme weather and climate events around the globe ? most recently
floods in Pakistan and forest and peat fires in Russia and Indonesia, dust
storms in China, erratic monsoon behavior in India, droughts and food
shortages in sub-Saharan Africa, severe prolonged droughts and water
shortages in northern Mexico and Northeast Brazil among other disastrous
events elsewhere ? underscore the urgency for governments to prepare
for an uncertain climate future.

The economic and social impacts of such high-impact climate, water and
weather events include sharply reduced agricultural output and productivity,
damages to infrastructure, disruption or loss of basic services, massive
dislocation of population, and increasing frequency of conflict, violence, and
misery in the poorest parts of the developing world. Industrialized countries are
not immune from adverse climate-related changes and are also increasingly
susceptible to the similar high impact phenomena. Yet, the world?s Drylands
possess many important assets, including rich social, cultural and biological
diversity. They are responsible for more than 20% of food production around the
globe.

Drylands present many opportunities for sustainable development,
especially renewable solar, wind and biomass energy. Many of the actions
required to address climate challenges are of benefit now as well for long-term
economic growth, sustainable development and poverty alleviation in future
decades. They require a high priority consideration from governments, national
and regional, from the international community and from the private sector.

Deliberations during the Second International Conference on
Climate, Sustainability and Development in Semi-arid Regions
(ICID 2010) resulted in a call for the following action:

Climate Change and Sustainable Development: Challenges and
Opportunities for the Drylands

1. The sustainable development of Drylands, through improved governance,
enhanced livelihoods and greater voice, empowerment, and political
representation of their populations (especially the poor), should be the foremost
objective of local to international action.

2. Climate-sensitive development interventions from local to global must be
substantially increased paying special attention to the needs of women, children
and the elderly, throughout the Drylands.

3. ?Win-Win? opportunities to cope with global warming must be identified and
pursued, especially climate adaptation tactics and strategies that reduce local
vulnerability, increase resilience and build assets of the poor. Efforts are
needed to develop greater institutional capacity for managing climate variability
today in the context of projected climate changes (e.g., greater emphasis on
improved climate and environmental monitoring networks, drought
preparedness planning based on a risk-based management approach,
development of appropriate decision-support tools, and improved information
delivery systems to aid decision making). Efforts must promote access to land
and to markets, as well as effective civil-society grassroots participation in
decision-making, implementation, and evaluation of development activities.

4. Mechanisms should be strengthened through integrated action to arrest and
avoid land degradation, to mitigate the effects of droughts, fires and floods, to
conserve soil and water resources and biodiversity, and to resiliently adapt to
climate change and its consequences. In addition, mechanisms to financially
compensate local communities for the environmental protection services they
provide must be identified and implemented. Multilateral and bilateral
development agencies can play an important role.

5. Investment opportunities should exploit the comparative advantages of
dryland areas such as solar power generation, as well as other alternative and
renewable energy sources (including hydropower, wind, and biomass). They
should also support techniques for rainwater capture, improved sanitation,
wastewater 3 reuse in irrigation and low carbon, resource saving and
environmentally-friendly activities. Such investment would enhance energy and
food security by the improved efficient management of demand for water
through adequate pricing and other means. The integration of water basins
should also be considered.

Political Representation from local to international

6. The concerns of Drylands peoples are often poorly represented in
international, national and local policy processes. Good governance of the
Drylands will also bring knowledge, cultural values, needs and aspirations of
local inhabitants into multi-level policy and decision-making.

7. To promote the recognition and well-being of Drylands, secondand third-order
implications of the climate-poverty-sustainability interface should be widely
acknowledged, and Drylands countries should become equal partners in the
global environment and development agenda.

8. The United Nations should urgently consider the current plight of the
Drylands, including the risks to global security associated with the growing
impoverishment and food insecurity, increasing vulnerability to natural disasters
and climate change, and rising conflicts and violence in Dryland regions.

9. Convene a ?Drylands Summit on Sustainable Development? to refine policy
options for Drylands worldwide. Inputs from ICID 2010 and those of the
proposed Drylands Summit would enhance discussion of the importance of
Drylands issues in the Rio+20 Conference agenda. Summits for other eco-
regions should also be identified and convened.

10. A new strategic geo-political Drylands Initiative, if not alliance, can be
developed to coordinate efforts to address common climate, development and
sustainability related problems, prospects and opportunities.

11. Generate support for development and implementation of community-level
knowledge-based strategies to educate children, adults, policy and decision
makers, including parliamentarians, and the media, about the obvious as well
as hidden implications of climate and environmental changes In the Drylands.

Biodiversity Protection

12. There is also the need to recover degraded areas, strengthen the
management and sustainability of existing and newly protected areas and to
prevent environmental deterioration of those that are as yet well preserved.
Dryland regions should catalogue and prioritize the various sustainable uses
and conservation of biodiversity.

Synergies Among Global Environment and Development Initiatives

13. Synergies among global, national, regional and local interventions to
mitigate and adapt to climate change, conserve biodiversity, and curb
desertification should be maximized. Interactions among and with the three Rio
Conventions (UNCCD, UNCBD, UNFCCC) should be integrated with broader
domestic and international efforts to foster quality of basic education, combat
poverty and promote sustainability.

Financing Climate-Sensitive Sustainable Development

14. Enhancing climate-sensitive sustainable development activities will require
additional financial resources. Part of these costs should be absorbed by
national economies, but, because of the global public goods nature of these
issues, a larger share of the needed incremental financing should come from
industrialized countries.

15. Previous financial pledges by industrialized countries to support sustainable
development efforts must be met. Existing institutional arrangements and
financial instruments must not only be strengthened but must become more
efficient. Disbursement of concessionary resources from recently established
Climate Investment and Adaptation Funds, for example, should be accelerated,
and local and national institutional absorptive capacities strengthened to
effectively utilize these resources.

16. Holding emitters of greenhouse gases accountable by applying the ?Polluter
Pays? principle, and other such measures, should generate additional sources
of financial resources to support new investments in adaptation measures.
Financial innovations to advance sustainable development under climate
change conditions should also include: (i) funds to finance adaptation and
associated sustainable development activities in Dryland subregions, such as
the proposed Fund for the Caatinga ecosystem in Brazil; (ii) payment for
ecological and other 5 environmental services, including establishment of a fund
for reduction of emissions from land degradation and desertification, along the
lines of existing ones for reduction of emissions from deforestation and forest
degradation in tropical forest areas (REDD); and (iii) climate-related damage
compensation and insurance instruments.

Education and Food Security for Sustainable Development

17. Contextualized quality education at all levels should be a priority,
cooperatively supported by all agencies involved. In addition to a high-return
investment in human capital, this should be viewed as the need to raise the
awareness of local populations about the linkages among climate change,
poverty and sustainability. This will ensure an effective voice, empowerment
and representation in public decision-making regarding the future of Dryland
regions. Specific Drylands education policies should be developed. The priority
focus should be on the youth of both genders beginning with early childhood
development. They have the most at stake and will become the next wave of
policy and decision makers.

18. Food Security for Sustainable Development must be a key area of concern
among civil society, NGOs, international agencies, government institutions and
other forms of organization, as food security remains a fundamental need for
reducing vulnerability and promoting resilient adaptation.

Knowledge and Information Exchange

19. An integrated multidisciplinary climate research, observation, modeling and
applications program should be implemented to inform resource managers,
policy makers, planners, educators and local populations about adaptation to
the consequences of a changing climate.

20.While information technology and knowledge based on the complex causes
and effects of climate variability, extremes and change have advanced
significantly during the past two decades, significantly greater inputs from the
social sciences are needed, especially to focus on the social and political
causes of vulnerability and resilience as well as the societal impacts of climate
variability and climate change.

21.The gap caused by a mismatch between scientific and technological
investigation related to the Drylands along with 6 knowledge about production
systems on the one hand, and the prevailing system of decision-making and
environmental and local governance, on the other, should be eliminated. New
Science and Technology (S&T) knowledge must be developed in existing and
new Drylands institutions. Sustainable development efforts must respect the
cultures of indigenous, traditional and other local populations that have
inhabited these regions for centuries.

22.Drylands knowledge networks should be enhanced with two basic objectives:
(i) scientific and applied research: exchange of information, discussion of
methodologies, communication of scientific discoveries and joint development
of research activities; and (ii) participatory planning and action: create a forum
for exchanging experiences among specialists, government authorities and civil
society.

International Cooperation

23.Strengthen measures to facilitate international cooperation and appropriate
technology transfer, including the fostering of southsouth and tripartite
cooperation and the establishment of local laboratories and observatories.

24.Efforts to improve coordination and reduce the existing compartmentalization
of development programs should be promoted at all levels, especially in areas
such as education, land, water and forest resource management, the combating
of desertification, adapting to climate change, protecting biodiversity, improving
food security, and poverty reduction.

A Sense of Urgency

25.The urgency to respond to current and emerging climate, development and
sustainability challenges and opportunities in drylands must not be understated.
The international community has shown its intention to place drylands
development on the international agenda by the launching at ICID 2010 of the
'United Nations Decade of Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification
2010-2020'. In light of ICID 2010's findings and in view of global climate change
scenarios that intensify the drylands development imperative, the dawn of this
new UN Decade is a welcome recognition that decisive action for human and
ecosystems well-being in the world's drylands is needed now!

Supporting documents from the preparatory meetings and panels of ICID 2010,
including special contributions on Africa and Latina America, are available at URL:
www.icid18.org.

ANNEXE 4

Mendoza DECLARATION

Third International Conference on Climate, Sustainability, and
Development in Dryland Regions

Mendoza, Argentina

September 25-28, 2011

THE DRYLANDS TOWARDS RIO+20: A LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN PERSPECTIVE

Three hundred participants from various continents met in Mendoza between September 25
and 28, 2011 to analyze the principal advances and gaps in the management of drylands (arid,
semi-arid, and subhumid lands) in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region since the
United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro
in 1992, from the perspective of poverty eradication and sustainable development. The
objective of the Mendoza meeting was to generate recommendations for the Sustainable
Development Conference to be convened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 2012, also known as
?Rio+20.?

In the discussions in Mendoza, the conclusions and recommendations contained in the
Fortaleza Declaration, A Drylands Call for Action, approved by the 2,500 participants of the
Second International Conference on Climate, Sustainability, and Development in Dryland
Regions (ICID+18), that took place in Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil between August 16 and 20, 2010.
As in the first ICID, also held in Fortaleza in 1992, the present Conference called attention to
the problematic situation confronted by the dryland regions of the planet in the context of
environmental degradation and climate change. Among the conclusions and calls to action of
ICID+18 are the following:

· The drylands contain a large proportion of the world?s poor people and suffer an
enormous pressure on their natural resources, including water, air, soils, and
biodiversity;

· The people that inhabit these lands are the most vulnerable to the negative effects of
climate variation and change, and possess the fewest means to confront them;

· There is a need for better governance of the drylands which ensures adequate
representation of their inhabitants in the appropriate political forums and greater food
security;

· Emphasis should be given to interventions that are sustainable and climate-sensitive to
the characteristics of the drylands;

· It is necessary to create the favorable conditions for sustainable development in the
drylands through integrated actions to confront land degradation, mitigate the effects
of droughts, combat desertification, conserve biodiversity, and guarantee their
adaptation to climate change.

· Important potential synergies exist among the Rio Conventions (on Climate Change,
Biodiversity, and Desertification) to reduce vulnerabilities and increase the
population?s capacity to adapt to climate variability; and,

· It is necessary to take advantage of the investment opportunities generated by the
comparative advantages of the drylands, including the production of renewable
energy.

In summary, the inhabitants of drylands are highly vulnerable to land degradation and
desertification, natural disasters, climate change, water scarcity and food insecurity.
However, their economic and socio-cultural potential to confront the challenges of climate
change and desertification should also be clearly recognized.

Advances and Gaps

In this context, ICID+19 considered the most significant advances and gaps (or unfulfilled
elements) with respect to the measures proposed for the management and sustainability
of the drylands since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. They are as follows:

1. The Conference recognized the multiple advances toward sustainable development in
Latin America and the Caribbean since Rio 92. However, it is also necessary to consider the
strong social, economic and environmental disequilibria that have occurred during the past
two decades. These disequilibria prevail and constitute obstacles to the sustainable
progress of the drylands in the developing countries. Therefore, it is urgent to take political
decisions and actions that are oriented to overcome these obstacles.

2. Beyond the advances, structural changes have occurred in several contexts since Rio 92,
such as continued population growth, the new patterns and requirements of international
trade, international financial crises, and other changes in the world economy. Particularly
in response to the global financial crises, changes are being produced ? or proposed ? in
the international financial architecture, resulting in greater vulnerability and uncertainty
that significantly affect the sustainability of development.

3. During the period under review, there has been a reduction in poverty and
improvement in the indices of inequality is some countries and regions in Latin America
and the Caribbean. However, persisting high levels of poverty and inequality continue to
be worrisome. And these same indices at the local level in dryland areas are even more
worrisome.

4. Despite the improvements that have occurred during the past two decades, governance
in the drylands (and elsewhere) is still threatened by various factors.

5. Institutional strengthening has advanced substantially, but the following needs persist,
among others, in dryland regions: (a) to achieve a greater commitment on the part of all of
society and all of the components and levels of the State to the objectives of sustainable
development and poverty eradication; (b) to promote the integrated sustainable
development of natural resources; (c) to elaborate and implement environmental
territorial organization and sustainable urban development policies; (d) to promote food
sovereignty as a vehicle for the reduction of the vulnerability of socio-economic and
biophysical systems; (e) to strengthen policies to protect environmental assets and
services (natural habitats, soils, water resources, biodiversity, etc.); and (f) to incorporate
the environmental dimension in national income and wealth accounting and public
policies.

6. Greater awareness exists about the importance and dimension of environmental
externalities, but the need to fully internalize environmental costs derived from productive
activities remains.

7. The Conference took note of the significance advance of scientific and technical
knowledge with regard to the drylands. However, it observed that there is an important
weakness in the dissemination of scientific knowledge -- as well as traditional, indigenous
and local knowledge ? to government authorities, and that weaknesses also exist with
regard to the access to, transfer and adoption of primary production technologies. In
addition, it is also necessary to: (a) improve drought prediction systems; (b) undertake
inventories of wetlands and other strategic environmental resources; (c) recover and
conserve biodiversity in dryland regions; (d) improve knowledge about environmental
goods and services in order to develop adequate compensation mechanisms; and (e)
strengthen the relation between environment-related knowledge generation and decision
making by governments, producers, and civil society entities alike.

8. Increasing social empowerment in relation to environmental themes as the result of
education and greater public awareness can be observed, but it is still necessary to: (a)
promote sustainable land management as a vehicle for climate change adaptation; and (b)
promote and disseminate traditional knowledge and wisdom.

9. Social protection networks have improved significantly in some countries ? for example,
in order to mitigate the negative economic, social, and environmental effects of droughts ?
but there is still a need to ensure the continuity and strengthen these safety nets and
programs.

10. Special programs have been established, such as the carbon and climate investment
funds, but: (a) the use of economic instruments for conservation and sustainable
management of drylands remains insufficient; (b) it is still necessary to put national and
international systems at the service of the development of drylands; and (c) there is a need
to create more innovative financing sources and facilitate access to them on the part of
traditionally marginalized groups.

11. Response mechanisms to the problem of desertification have improved, but full
development and appropriate use of climate, agro-meteorological and hydrological
services to help confront droughts and land degradation are still lacking.

12. Other important gaps that were observed are the following:

· Despite the fact that nearly twenty years have passed since the Earth Summit in
Rio and the signature of the Conventions on Biodiversity and Climate Change and 17 years since the signature of the Convention on Desertification, the effective
implementation of these Conventions cannot be seen in terms of the
improvement of the situation of ecosystems in dryland areas. These ecosystems
continue to be subject to various degradation processes leading to increased
desertification.

· Despite some advances in the design of water resource management systems, the
dryland regions are not prepared to confront the effects of climate variability and
change. As a result, a significant gap still needs to be resolved through integrated
water resource management programs, both at the level of water basins and
aquifers and in other territorial realms, and especially in the case of transboundary
or shared hydrological systems.

· Even though important advances have been registered in both formal and informal
education in dryland areas, weaknesses persist in certain aspects relative to school
infrastructure, teacher training, and access, quality, and contextualization in
relation to local socio-cultural and environmental factors.

Conclusions and Recommendations for Rio+20

Taking into account the conclusions and calls to action of ICID+18, the principal themes
of the World Conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in
June 2012 (Rio+20), and the advances and gaps with respect to climate, sustainability,
and development in dryland regions since 1992 summarized above, the deliberations
in Mendoza reached the following conclusions and recommendations.
General Recommendations

1. The final document of the Rio+20 Summit should contain a specific chapter about
the socio-economic and environmental situation and challenges of the drylands and
the policies, programs, investments, and institutional arrangements that countries
with dryland areas should adopt for sustainable development and poverty eradication
within them.

2. The principle of common, but differentiated, responsibilities among developed and
developing countries should be made operational through concrete proposals for
implementation and financial mechanisms that put forward the strengthening of the
capacities of and opportunities for future generations.

3. In order to be effective, Environmental Governance requires a baseline, targets,
indicators, and financing; permanent global, national, regional, and local dialogues
concerning drylands and their management are necessary, with priority participation
of vulnerable groups of local communities. The empowerment of these local
communities with respect to financial aspects, environmental services, and productive
and value chains can strengthen said governance.

4. We confirm the need for a systemic and integrated focus for the comprehension
and treatment of land degradation and desertification processes.

Reaffirmation of the Contributions of the Fortaleza Declaration

5. ICID+19 reaffirms the recommendations that are summarized in the Fortaleza
Declaration, highlighting sustainable development, education, governance and
financing as the most relevant themes.

6. We recognize the intrinsic value of the earth as the basis for the sustenance of
humanity and all other species and we do not assign it merely a commercial value. This
is the notion of ?mother earth,? or as it is expressed in the Andean indigenous
language Quechua, ?pachamama.? In this sense, the relevance of land tenure systems
and food security is likewise should also be kept in mind.

7. The Fortaleza Declaration emphasized the importance of the interchange of
information and lessons learned during the two decades of the Earth Summit (Rio 92)
process. During ICID+19, we have reconfirmed the pertinence of the guiding principles
of sustainable development. We have also identified the need to approach these
principles in geo-socio-economic-cultural-environmental terms so as to reflect the
concerns, challenges, and opportunities of the people of the drylands.

8. ICID+19 represents substantive progress regarding the necessity for a systemic focus
in the analysis, debates, and recommendations leading to Rio+20 with respect to the
implementation in dryland regions of the three Rio Conventions: Biodiversity, Climate
Change, and the Struggle against Desertification and Mitigation of the Effects of
Droughts.

9. We recommend that: sustainable development objectives be adopted both
globally and at the individual country level for dryland areas expanding the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs); educational policies and programs be strengthened in an
interdisciplinary framework to address the situation at hand; targets be set to slow
down the degradation and desertification and that they be proposed for inclusion in
national, regional, and local agendas; biodiversity conservation be maximized;
integrated water resource management systems be implemented and reinforced,
including new initiatives at the global, national, regional, and local levels; and, the
creation, communication, and transfer of knowledge and technology for the
sustainable development of drylands be advanced.

Green Economy and Eradication of Poverty in Drylands

10. ICID+19 recognizes that making national, regional, and local economies more
socially and environmentally friendly is an opportunity to secure the welfare of the
present and future generations.

11. We propose that, through a participatory process, the debate within the region in
relation to better development of and consensus around the concept of a green
economy be deepened. Among the aspects that should be considered we highlight
that green economies are: (a) low in carbon intensity; (b) refer to the internalization of
environmental costs and the sustainable management of natural resources; and (c)
incorporate all (i.e., social, economic, and environmental) dimensions of sustainability.

12. Thus, we recommend that the definition of the concept of a green economy
focuses on social and environmental sustainability with emphasis on the eradication of
poverty within the context of national, regional, and local priorities and taking into account the risk that, in the short run, environmental regulations could be converted
into non-tariff trade barriers of hidden subsidies.

13. With regard to water than the management of water resources and wetlands in
dryland regions, the following measures should be taken: (a) promote the integrated
sustainable management of water resources; (b) increase the use of available
knowledge and research concerning water resources; (c) guarantee security and equity
in the access to water; and (d) encourage policies for conservation of wetlands,
including the undertaking of inventories.

14. It is necessary to increase the attention given to droughts and other extreme
weather events associated with climate change in dryland areas and improve
measures to adapt to and live with them.

15. Territorial organization and development should be prioritized, as should the
conservation of ecosystems and valuation of and compensation for environmental
goods and services in the drylands.

16. It is necessary to promote in dryland regions: (a) sustainable land management as
one of the vehicles for adaptation to climate change; (b) the strengthening and
diversification of production of local economies; and (c) food sovereignty as a vehicle
for reducing the vulnerability of socio-economic and biophysical systems.

17. The importance of financing mechanisms and associated instruments for the
development of drylands areas should be highlighted.

18. Environmental assets and deficits need to be included in national income and
wealth accounts, and the relation between the generation of knowledge and decision
making by governments, producers, and civil society needs to be strengthened.

19. It is necessary to promote investment projects that consider social recovery and
environmental restoration, especially those oriented to micro, small, and mediumsized
enterprises, in the drylands.

20. Appropriate financial and technological responses should be sought and
incorporated in public policies and governance for dryland regions affected by
desertification and poverty.

Governance Institutions for Development of the Drylands

21. Environmental Governance in a broader sense than technical and institutional
concerns should be understood as a new relation between the State and Society,
which considers the participation of the stakeholders involved and constitutes a space
of alliances and cooperation that can be influenced by conflicts that arise from the
impact of social asymmetries and their effects on the environment.

22. It is necessary to strengthen the existing United Nations organisms related to the
drylands, considering other existing institutions and coordination mechanisms.

24. Actions to promote improved governance in dryland areas should consider the
strengthening not only of national and provincial institutions, but also of municipal and
local ones, and support the establishment of interchange mechanisms among countries, regions, provinces, and municipalities, in the same continent or across
continents, as for example the cooperation agreement between the Brazilian state of
Ceará and the Argentina province of Mendoza.

25. The pertinent authorities should be influenced such that public policies, laws,
norms, and other legal and institutional mechanisms regarding environmental themes
in dryland regions are complied with and implemented out of conviction and not as a
result of social pressures, with knowledge of these mechanisms from the outset and
their validation together with their adequate dissemination being primordial for this
purpose.

26. As one of the pillars of governance, it is necessary to strengthen participation and
control over the pertinent financial mechanisms in order to guarantee sustainable
development.

27. For the design of policy options for the drylands, the following should occur: (a)
define, develop, and utilize the scientific and technical actions that meet the national
demands and positions regarding the Rio Conventions and reinforce the synergies
among them; and (b) promote the implementation of the priorities contained in
national action plans.

28. As inappropriate technologies are among the causes of environmental
degradation, it is necessary to promote: (a) sustainable land management; (b) the
application of good practices, which are locally appropriate; and (c) adapt production
technologies to local conditions and for organic agriculture.

29. It is necessary to guarantee the participation of the local population, technical
specialists, researchers and other professionals from various disciplines, those
responsible for the management of natural resources, and representatives of local
governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with the objective of
contributing to decision making and the generation and implementation of legislation
for the fight against desertification.

30. In relation to the participation, organization, and empowerment of vulnerable
groups and populations, it is government?s responsibility to promote the existence and
strengthening of mechanisms of participation, social inclusion, prior informed
consultation, and community empowerment based on the principles of equality,
equity, transparency, access to information, and a gender focus. A case in point is the
Integrated Management of Water Resources, taking the water basin as the functional,
planning and management unit through Basin Councils or Committees.

31. All levels of society should be informed, educated, and trained, with emphasis on
children and youth, on the basis of scientific and technical knowledge in order to
influence decision making regarding natural resource management and global
environmental processes such as climate change, land degradation and desertification,
droughts, water stress, and other disasters in dryland regions.

32. Scientific and technical information should be disseminated in such a way that it
can be understood and utilized by decision makers at the national, regional, and local
levels and by the community in general. Taking up the urgent call to action of the
Fortaleza Declaration, we reaffirm the rights of all citizens of the drylands to water, the
land, the sun, the air, and healthy ecosystems in order to achieve a dignified individual,
family, and community life.